The Eternal Battle
by 0-moonwind
Summary: SPOILERS! Long after the battle with the Dark Forest, the Clans remain by the lake, struggling to rebuild the Warrior Code. In the midst of this turmoil, Mousekit, Wildkit, and Rainkit are promised a great destiny. But only one can achieve this goal...
1. Prologue

Claws flashed. Fur bristled. Blood stained the ground a deep scarlet. The grass was either plastered with dried blood or trampled flat by pounding paws. The wind rustled through the trees, adding an eerie whistling to the waterfall of howls and hissing.

Cats were fighting left and right. One slashed another across the flank, scoring deep marks that quickly filled with red liquid. Another cat slumped to the ground, motionless. It's opponent yowled in triumph.

The forest around the battle seemed to shiver in the wake of hatred between the two opposing sides.

On the outer ridges of the fighting three cats were in a separate group. They watched the battle, eyes narrowed, looking for any enemies that seemed to be breaking off from the fight.

All were full grown and muscular. One cat's ice-blue eyes flicked off from the battle to it's companions.

"Our place here in this fight isn't helping. We need to get back to camp," she suggested.

Another cat next to her unsheathed his claws. They scraped the earth, tearing small blades of grass up from the soil.

"No. Bramblestar needs us to be here. He appointed us to this spot so we could show any intruders trying to escape unscathed what Clan cats are made of."

The ginger cat that spoke earlier flicked her ears in annoyance. "But we should defend the camp. These Other Clans will attack our elders and queens if it is not left defended. RiverClan and ShadowClan can survive without us."

The black tom next to her nodded. "Only three warriors remain at camp. Our sister is right," he said sternly to his brother.

The vision faded from the silvery pool of water. Warriors with starlight in their fur looked up from the pool and nodded to each other.

A ginger cat stood up to speak. "I told you that these cats will be loyal. They need to survive." He turned to the other cats on his right side. His orange tail flicked from side to side I anticipation.

A blue-gray she cat with stunningly blue eyes shook her head.

"I know these cats will be loyal and strong, Firestar. But only one can rise above their littermates to become great. Perhaps..." she trailed off, lifting her head to stare upwards at the night sky. The stars looked closer than ever, and seemed to be leaning in to hear their discussion.

A golden she-cat with spots like a leopard stepped forward. Her amber eyes glinted a shining gold in the moonlight.

"I agree with you both, Bluestar and Firestar. But who rises above the others is not for us to decide. We can only watch them and wait for a sign. What happens to these cats is no one's decision, not even Rock's or Star's," she mewed.

Firestar looked away. A tortoiseshell she-cat beside him touched her tail to his shoulder.

"Star may know who, though," a voice from the back of the crowd of StarClan cats said. "We have already asked Rock. He may or may not know, but he won't tell us. Star is more willing to help the Clans. She would tell us if she knew," the voice continued.

Gasps came from the cats nearest to the pool of starlight water. A dark ginger she-cat with deep green eyes made her way to Bluestar.

"Squirrelflight! This gathering is for leaders or medicine cats!" the tortoiseshell she-cat beside Firestar scolded.

"I remember Sandstorm telling me as a kit StarClan is equal. Is that not true, Spottedleaf? I have as much a right to be here as you do," Squirrelflight shot back.

Spottedleaf glared for a moment, and opened her mouth to speak. After a short moment's silence, she clearly thought better of it and lowered her head.

The leopard-like she-cat spoke again. Her golden tail brushed the gray rock beneath it.

"I agree with your daughter, Firestar. Star may tell us," she meowed calmly.

Firestar merely dipped his head and turned to walk through the crowd of past Clan leaders and medicine cats. All eyes turned upon him. He felt their gazes piercing his pelt, trying to look into his mind to read his thoughts.

"Then we will travel there tonight, Leopardstar," he mewed, glancing over his shoulder. His bright green eyes were doubtful, he didn't truly expect a clear answer, especially from Star.

Firestar left the clearing with many cats following. Pelts of all colors glistened with health as they moved under the beams of heavenly light. Soon the rock around the pool was clear of cats except for Squirrelflight, Onestar, and Bluestar.

Bluestar turned to the warrior and leader. "The lack of knowledge to who will be the great one is not our only problem," she sighed, once sure that no other cat was in hearing range of listening.

Onestar nodded. "The kit called Mousekit worries me. I saw the same personality that Mudclaw had when he tried to overthrow me in him. Mudclaw was a good warrior, that is true, but if some cat that wishes to use that reaches Mousekit, the results will be a cat that wants power over everything. ShadowClan, any Clan, will be brought down by such a thing."

Squirrelflight's ginger fur bristled. "The Clans do not need another Tigerstar," she said, half to herself.

Onestar nodded, while Bluestar stared blankly ahead. She closed her eyes for a moment thoughtfully, then opened them again, an unreadable emotion in their sapphire depths.

"The intruders are coming, and gaining strength. In these dark times, even all the power of StarClan cannot help the Clans by the lake," the blue-furred warrior whispered, and she flicked her long tail over her paws, ears twitching.


	2. Chapter 1

"Can't get me!" Mousekit's tease sounded on the other side of the tall grass.

"Can too!" Wildkit called back. She leaped out of the vegetation on top of her gray-furred brother. His amber eyes widened in surprise.

Mousekit squealed in pretend pain. "Ow! You caught me!"

"Die, you stinky RiverClan warrior!" Rainkit screeched. He pounced on Mousekit's tail, showing his tiny thorn-sharp teeth.

Wildkit jumped off of her brother and hissed, grinning happily.

"Kits! Come back inside! It's getting too cold out!" the three kit's mother meowed.

Rainkit bounced enthusiastically to his mother, night-black tail waving.

"But Silverclaw, we aren't cold! Look, my nose is still pink!" he argued, pawing his nose thoroughly for emphasis.

Wildkit looked at Mousekit. His nose was still pink too, not pale like it would be if he was too cold.

"Yeah, we aren't cold at all," she ran up to Rainkit and faced Silverclaw, mewing indignantly

Silverclaw bent down to touch noses with her daughter. "I know you aren't, I just worry about you."

She lifted her head and padded over to Mousekit. Mousekit licked the bottom of her muzzle affectionately.

Suddenly Rowankit bundled out of the nursery entrance, paws and legs flailing around as they slipped on the icy ground, and nearly crashed into Wildkit.

Wildkit fumbled to move out of the way. Her white paws moved fast as a frightened rabbit as she gritted her teeth in surprise.

Rowankit skidded to a halt and cried out excitedly, "Leafpaw and Redpaw are back with fresh-kill!"

"Oh, great! I'm hungry!" Rainkit mewed.

The kits ran to get to the fresh-kill pile, nearly bowling over Silverclaw in the process.

"Don't get in the hunting patrol's way!" she called after them.

Leafpaw was dropping his vole on the pile, with Redpaw right behind him.

The fresh-kill pile had been pitiful the past few sunrises. Leaf-bare was not being kind to ShadowClan this season, nor to any of the other Clans.

Even the vole Leafpaw caught had been clearly starving, judging by it's thin frame.

Whitefall was watching the apprentices, his eyes thoughtful. But they lost their calmness when they flicked over in the direction of tiny pounding paws. He stood up, tail flicking from side to side.

"Hey!" he put his paw in front of the kits to stop them. "It took us all morning to catch that!"

Wildkit glanced up at the warrior. "But we just want to eat a little." she meowed.

Whitefall's eyes softened, and he looked towards the apprentices behind him. He sighed, "Let Softflower and Silverclaw get your food. They won't destroy what the Clan needs."

"We won't destroy the fresh-kill pile!" Rowankit begged Whitefall.

Wolfsong padded up to the warrior. Her whiskers twitched in amusement.

"You'll be able to get your own food soon enough, kits. Only one more moon until you're apprentices," she meowed.

Rainkit whined. "But that's forever!"

Wildkit glanced at her brother. She was willing to wait the one moon, if that was what it would take to be an apprentice. One moon wasn't much, was it?

And why other young cats complained about hunting puzzled her. She thought hunting would be fun, stalking and hiding from prey. Like a game of hide-and-seek with her littermates.

"Kits! Don't bother the warriors," Softflower scolded, approaching the group of kits.

She turned to Whitefall and Wolfsong. "I'm sorry. They are just very restless. They don't get to play as long as they used to. They just can't stay out very long. This cold is too harsh for their thin pelts."

"Our pelts are fine!" Mousekit spat at the queen.

Whitefall nuzzled his son's head. "Of course. But staying out too long can make you catch a cold. You wouldn't want to spend the day in Toadleap's den, would you?"

Mousekit lowered his head. "I guess not."

Softflower turned to lead the kits to the nursery entrance. Wildkit pawed at the ground. She wasn't used to walking on hard earth, as the frost was making it so. Her paw pads were still soft from walking on the muddy ShadowClan camp terrain.

They entered the nursery to find Silverclaw goading on Moonkit and Sorrelkit to take a nap.

"But we're not tired!" Sorrelkit's quiet mew was still scratchy from a past bought of Whitecough.

"You will be. Now go to sleep. Look, your sister is already falling asleep."

Softflower looked at Wildkit. Wildkit saw her eyes had been dulled with hunger.

Wildkit had not ever known true hunger. Her mother always had brought enough food for them.

"I think you might need some sleep too," she said.

"But I'm hungry!" she argued.

Softflower sighed. "You can eat later. Right now, the Clan needs as much food on the fresh-kill pile as possible."

Wildkit grunted in annoyance. Couldn't the Clan just hunt more? The warrior code clearly said to feed kits and elders first!

Mousekit clawed the cold ground beside her. "Can't we just go steal the other Clan's food? And if we get caught, we could make them give us some!" he spat.

Silverclaw gasped. "That's against the warrior code! Don't you dare speak like that! I don't even know what the Clan will think of you if anyone else heard you say that!" her eyes widened in anger and shock.

Mousekit bowed his head. "I'm just saying what I think is best," he muttered. His amber eyes glinted with annoyance.

Wildkit stared at her brother. Had he meant for anyone to hear him say that? They must follow the warrior code!

She remembered Mapleheart telling her stories of great leaders like Blackstar who followed the warrior code nobly. Mousekit had told her so many times he would be leader in the future, didn't he know following Clan laws was first priority to being appointed even deputy?

"Alright, kits. I think it's time to go to sleep," Softflower said, as if to escape the tension in the den. "Silverclaw, I can take care of your kits for you."

Silverclaw shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, Softflower, but six will be just too much for one cat. I'll stay here. Hunting for the Clan can wait for a little while."

Silverclaw quietly got up and moved over to her kits. Softflower took her place in her own nest.

A cold breeze suddenly entered the nursery. Wildkit shivered. Her ginger fur bushed up like a hedgehog. Her littermates made their way to their nest, leaning against each other for warmth.

Silverclaw sat down and waited silently for her kits to pad over, glancing at Wildkit as she noticed the ginger kit was moving.

Wildkit blinked absently, then bustled over to her mother, blue eyes glazed over in a daydream. She almost leaped on top of Rainkit and settled beside Mousekit.

Her mother's fur quickly warmed her up. She looked up slowly, every move becoming harder as an urge to fall asleep washed over her.

The blue eyes were close to closing.

"Silverclaw, can you tell us a story?" she pleaded.

Mousekit licked his mouth, then lifted his fluffy head. "Yeah, can you tell us about the forest?"

A dreamy look came into her mother's eyes. Was that a glimmer of regret or sorrow?

"Well, as you know kits, I never knew it. Our elders never knew it. But the past generations that live on in StarClan know. It was a place where living was like by the lake, but just in a different environment. Cats caught prey, followed the code, fought in battles and mere skirmishes, everything we do today."

Wildkit and her brothers listened with rapt attention. They knew little about the forest. All they had ever heard about it was the apprentices gossiping loudly after a gathering.

"ShadowClan lived near a Twoleg landfill, and when prey was scarce they would eat the rats there. Sometimes cats got deathly ill from eating the rats, and the leader Nightstar died from this same sickness. But mostly life was hunt and protect the borders. Well, as long as there wasn't a danger. Long ago, a group of cats from Twolegplace threatened to take over the forest. They called themselves BloodClan, and their leader was an evil cat named Scourge. And he killed Tigerstar!"

Rainkit gasped. "Big bad Tigerstar?"

Silverclaw purred in amusement. "Yes, big bad Tigerstar," she licked Rainkit's muzzle.

Wildkit tipped her head. "That's how he died?"

Silverclaw nodded. "Yes, dear. There was a great battle. The four Clans united temporarily into LionClan. Firestar of ThunderClan led them into battle. Firestar was the one to kill Scourge. Many cats died in that fight, cats of all Clans. During the battle, even kits were trained to defend the camp against BloodClan cats."

Wildkit's eyes widened. Even kits were trained? How exactly bad were these BloodClan cats?

Mousekit spoke her thoughts in a curios squeak. "What were BloodClan cats like?"

Silverclaw tilted her head and thought for a moment.

Eventually she looked back down on her kits. "BloodClan cats were vicious and menacing. The highest ranked cats wore kittypet collars lined with the teeth of dogs and cats that fell victim to them. Their claws were tipped with sharpened dog teeth. They killed stray dogs threatening their food."

Rainkit gasped excitedly. "They killed dogs? How? The elders always say you can't kill a dog unless it's really young or small. Was it that they only killed small dogs?"

"I don't know. No cat alive knows, unless you lived in BloodClan. But it's said that the dog teeth they lined their collars with were the largest any cat had ever seen."

"How many were there?" Mousekit asked, his voice extremely high with excitement and disbelief.

His mother breathed in. "There were very many. Enough to match all the forest Clans combined, maybe even more."

"Wow..." Wildkit whispered. She knew BloodClan cats were evil, but it was hard not to admire their strength in the story. Why wasn't ShadowClan strong enough to kill dogs? Maybe the BloodClan cats had some kind of special battle technique the Clans didn't.

Silverclaw lowered her voice. "Would you like to hear another story?"

Rainkit bounced up. "Oh, yes!"

"Quiet, Rainkit. Lie down." Silverclaw pushed her kit down with her silver tail.

"This story happened long ago, when five living Clans roamed the forest. That fifth Clan was called SkyClan. They lived in peace with the other Clans. But one time intruders from a faraway place called the Others lived in small Clans of their own. But they weren't true Clans. They worked differently, much more different then the Tribes do compared to the Clans. One Clan ruled above all three of the Other Clans. It was called MistClan. The other two were SnowClan and MountainClan. They were promised by an immortal spirit that the forest Clans would forever serve them, if they won a war against the Clans of the forest."

Mousekit dug his small claws into the nest. "ShadowClan will never serve any cat, powerful or not," he hissed.

Silverclaw licked his head. "Of course not. We drove them out, but they vowed that the battle was not over."

Wildkit hadn't heard her brother. She was deep in thought. Not over? It must be a story just to scare kits. Wildkit wrinkled her nose in the beginning of a sneeze.

"Wlidkit! Don't sneeze on me! Gross!" Rainkit whined loudly to his sister.

Silverclaw yawned. "Go to sleep kits. The sun has set."

"But-"

"You can play outside tomorrow." the silver tabby rested her head on her paws.

Wildkit flicked her ginger tail. She wasn't even tired!

Silverclaw fell asleep quickly. Her rhythmic breathing was long and soft, signaling she wouldn't wake up any time soon.  
>Wildkit slowly got to her paws. She would go explore the territory. No cat would let her yet. She and her littermates were all anxious to do it. The Clan was stupid that they wouldn't let her. How could she ever become a proper warrior if she didn't know the territory from the start?<p>

The darkness outside would hide her bright pelt. No cat would notice her if she was quiet.

Wildkit padded out of the nest, careful not to wake Mousekit or Rainkit. Her bright blue eyes reflected yellow in the dim light, and her pelt looked like a bundle of brown twigs. She couldn't be spotted if she stayed to the ground.

She was just about to leave the nursery when a bracken twig snapped behind her.

"Wildkit! Where are you going?" Mousekit's voice whispered.

Wildkit spun around. Her brother's gray and white pelt was almost glowing in the darkness.

"Go away, Mousekit! I'm a warrior!" she said to her brother.

Mousekit grinned. "Then I'm a warrior too."

"Be quiet! Only senior warriors get to hunt tonight."

"Then I'm coming with you!"

"No!"

"Then I'll wake mother and tell on you!"

Wildkit snorted. "Fine. You can be a warrior too."

"I want my name to be Mouseleap!" he mewed.

Mousekit puffed out his chest in pride. "And you can be Wildclaw."

Wildkit hissed quietly. "I want to be Wildheart!"

Mousekit purred. "Okay, Wildheart. Lead the way," his voice was annoyingly submissive.

Wildkit nodded. She left the nursery and headed for the camp entrance.

"We can't go that way, frog-brain," Mousekit whispered. "Vixenfur and Viperfang will spot us."

Wildkit looked up at the guard post. Both Viperfang and Vixenfur were on guard tonight, their ears pricked and eyes attentively staring across the camp. Still, she hated to be showed wrong.

"Uh, right. Let's use the dirtplace tunnel."

Wildkit turned around to the small exit from the camp.

"Follow me, Mouseleap. It's slippery here."


	3. Chapter 2

Mousekit's pulse raced with excitement. He was finally leaving camp! And Wildkit was so brave! She wasn't even flinching as she set paw on the hard, icy ground. Of course, he wouldn't admit it, but he was a little nervous. It was night, and who knew what was out there? There could be foxes, or even worse, badgers.

He had heard so much about badgers. They were huge, scary creatures with big paws and sharp teeth, and they were so heavy they could snap a cat's back in half in one blow!

He certainly didn't want to run into such an animal.

He flicked his ears, and took a step forward. The ground was a little less icy outside of camp.

The wind rustled the pine trees, and an eerie silence was cast upon them when it stopped.

Mousekit shook his head, and put his tail straight in the air, trying to look brave.

"Let's go!" he urged. Wildkit paused for a moment.

"Frog-brain! I'm scenting for prey," the ginger kit retorted.

Mousekit snorted. "Even a stupid moth would have the sense to stay away from a Clan camp! Were only just outside of it! Let's go further out!"

"Fine!" Wildkit's ice-blue eyes narrowed at him.

She turned away from her brother, fur bristling, and padded forward.

Mousekit glared for a moment, then bounded forward, his paws snapping a brittle twig in the process.

He stopped beside his sister, tail twitching and eyes in slits.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked after a moment's silence. "Isn't this the way to the training gorge?" he tasted the air, scenting apprentices and wet sand.

Wildkit hesitated, her ears twitching thoughtfully.

"I think so. Maybe there'll be prey in the bushes?"

As if to prove her point, a soft rustling broke the silence, and out of a nearby bush hopped a dark green frog. It's skin glistened in the dappled moonlight, it's bright yellow eyes unmoving. It's left hind leg twitched, as if ready to leap again, but it kept in the same position, practically waiting to be pounced on by one of the two kits before it.

Mousekit stared blankly at the amphibian. He ordered his paws to move, to try to catch it, but they seemed to be frozen to the ground.  
>He gave a passing glance at his sister, then stared back at the frog. She looked at him the same way he was looking at the frog, expectantly.<p>

"Catch it!" Wildkit whispered. "Frogs are still fresh-kill, or have you forgotten how to move your paws?"

Mousekit continued to stare at the creature, unsure of what to do. He knew he should catch it, but no part of his body was responding properly. All he could get was a soft twitch of his gray tail.

Wildkit sighed, rolling her eyes. She tensed, then reared up, and brought her white paws forward. They landed square on the frog's spine, and a sickening snapping sound echoed through Mousekit's ears. A faint croak came, then all fell silent again.

He blinked, regaining the ability to move. Breathing in deeply, he glared down at his forepaws. Freezing right when fresh-kill was in front of you was not how a warrior acted, even an apprentice would have moved! Was he really that stupid?

Wildkit looked questioningly at her brother, obviously wondering the same thing.

Mousekit sniffed, and shuffled his paws uncomfortably.

His sister snorted loudly, then bent down to bite the dead frog's hind leg. Jerking her head up, she managed to pick it up halfway, since the animal was nearly as big as herself.

She began to walk back toward the camp, dragging the frog a long with her.

Mousekit stared back at her for a moment, then saw how a few bits of earth was being kicked up by both Wildkit and her prey.

"Stop!" Mousekit ordered. "You'll get it all dirty! We should both carry it."

Wildkit paused for a moment, then dropped the frog and spun around, tail lashing back and forth.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing! Besides, the ground is frozen over. It won't get dirty at all."

"Then explain why one of it's legs already has a few bits of dirt on it," he meowed, nodding towards the green amphibian.

Wildkit glanced back at it, then sniffed indignantly. "It's not much, there'll be hardly any when we get back. Just be quiet, you're not the one that caught it in the first place!"

Mousekit gritted his teeth, and cuffed her on the ear with his paw. She had no right to tell him to be quiet! They were both out of camp for the first time. She didn't know anything more than he did!

Wildkit froze for a moment, then growled angrily and leaped on top of him.

Mousekit gasped, startled and caught off-guard. He stumbled, and eventually gave way to his sister, and she immediately snarled and bit down hard on his tail. A bolt of sharp pain shot through his body.

"Ouch! Hey!" he spat.

Mousekit swiped at his sister's face, claws unsheathed.

He missed, barley touching her whiskers. Wildkit hissed in anger and slashed his face in turn.

A stinging pain in his cheek, then a wet feeling as blood welled in the fairly deep scratch she inflicted.

"Ow!" he cried out "Stop!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"You fox-heart!"

"You piece of fox-dung!"

"Stop! Now!"

"No!"

Mousekit gasped as a crushing weight fell on his chest as his sister reared up to bring her paws down on him.

He hissed fiercely, and thrust his hind legs upwards, dealing a heavy blow to her own chest. Wildkit didn't expect the hit and rolled on the ground, winded.

She sputtered, trying to regain her breath.

Mousekit leaped up, on all four paws again and growling loudly. He waited for her to make another move, ready to match and slashes or bites she meant to deal.

After a long moment of watching his sister lying on the cold ground, he stepped back, waiting for her to get up.

Wildkit noticed the movement, expecting him to pin her down, and glared blankly ahead at nothing.

Eventually she regained the ability to breathe properly and staggered up, casting soul-piercing glances at him every few seconds.

Her ears twitched angrily, and her tail lay limp on the earth. She stared at him for a few moments, then looked back at the frog.

"Snake-heart..." she whispered, then her voice grew louder, more angry. An icy blue fire of rage blazed in her eyes. "You snake-heart!"

Her claws unsheathed for a second, showing their frighteningly long length. They glinted silver, an almost blinding reflection of the moon itself on the blade-like weapons.

Mousekit flinched as he imagined those claws raking down his flank. His were only half as long as hers! Sure, he was stronger than her, but she was much more agile and could probably dart around him, dodging his attacks.

But they hid back in her paws as she flattened her eyes and tightly screwed her eyes shut.

"We need to get back to camp, the sun will rise soon," she meowed, looking away from him, her voice surprisingly calm. Mousekit titled his head to one side, one eye narrowing curiously.

He stared for a little while, then shook his head, frustrated.

"Right, back to camp," he muttered, turning to grab the prey and began padding back, Wildkit's pawsteps signaling she was right behind him.


	4. Chapter 3: Star

Moonlight dappled the rocky slopes, a strangely eerie atmosphere to the cliffs and stone overhangs.

Firestar shivered. No matter how many times he visited this place, it always made him feel like he was being watched by hostile eyes. It wasn't a particularly pleasant area of the skies, but it was still inhabited by spirits.

The ground shuddered, and a loud crash echoed through the valleys and peaks.

"Another avalanche..." Firestar muttered. The random fall of stones and boulders weren't very dangerous, as long as you were welcome.

He turned back to gaze a specific sandstone platform, the pools of water that surrounded it perfect reflections of the living night sky.

His ears twitched, waiting for a sign of movement. Perhaps Star wouldn't come. Maybe she was tending to another spirit. He had already been waiting for over one full sunrise, a very long time by his standards.

He hoped she wouldn't appear. Despite her kind voice and welcoming personality, something about her always perplexed Firestar. She was hiding something, yet, she gave every bit of knowledge she had to any cat that asked. How could something be hidden?

Her words were paradoxes within themselves, and her questions were almost always unanswerable. She seemed to want to keep everything to herself, while at the same time still giving away everything.

It made him uncomfortable to speak to her, he felt he was unworthy somehow, but she claimed all cats were welcome in her presence, even the cats of the Dark Forest. She saw good and bad in every cat, and didn't even bother to help anyone unless asked.

His tail twitched nervously. He'd come back later. She must be busy, he didn't want to bother her.

Firestar glanced longingly over his shoulder. However much he wanted to leave, he knew he couldn't.

"You may leave if you wish, you know."

Firestar jumped, nearly yowling in surprise. The voice was a thousand different strung together loosely, except it sounded like only a single female voice was speaking.

He felt the ground tremble, the pebbles by his ginger paws dancing back and forth.

He spun around, searching for the source of the voice.

The clearing was still empty, the scraggly pines nearby still waving in the strong breeze.

The sky was a creamy orange, the clouds like roaring flames in the sky.

An earsplitting caterwaul boomed across the cliffs, shaking everything, including Firestar himself, in it's powerful wake.

His ears rang, the yowl still repeating itself in his mind. His paws began to run without him telling them to, and they flew across the mossy boulders and brown rocks without effort.

The trees became green smudges on his field of vision, he no longer felt the painful pounding of his paw pads against the rocks.

Everything faded, a blinding white glow replacing the scenery, all colors of the rainbow filling his eyes.

"Going somewhere?" a young voice said teasingly, quiet and soft, but more intimidating than a giant adder.

"Where are you going?" a gentle meow.

"Come back!" a desperate screech.

"Have fun..." a frightening tease.

"I'll miss you..." a saddening whisper.

Firestar tried to stop, but his paws continued to race across the very fabric of space and time itself.

A shimmering figure, it's eyes perfect tiny moons, and it's fur a glimmering white.

Firestar froze mentally. He was still running, but his mind had stopped working, his eyes had become green orbs of nothingness.

The figure became a breathing animal. It was a cat, but with the muscular build of a mountain lion and the agile legs of a leopard.

It's jaw opened, revealing rows of sharp fangs, and a voice rolled out into the world like a silk blanket would onto the ground. It felt soft as down feathers to his ears, and soothing as a cool greenleaf breeze to his racing mind and heart.

"Welcome, Firestar. I expect you have a question for me?"

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not even sure anymore. I just had a strange dream about Star and Firestar, so this was written.<br>**


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